Hanako Games

Long Live The... Queens?

#1 by hanako - Jun 28 2014

In my age-old tradition of talking about game ideas that I'm not making (but might someday), some of the prospects under discussion for a LLTQ Sequel.


Long Live The Queen: Child-Empress of Shanjia

Set approx 250 years after LLTQ. Shanjia has prospered and grown into a full-fledged empire, in which leadership is determined not by direct bloodline descent, but by which candidate of the imperial family is found most acceptable to the Imperial Crystal. When the last emperor died, you were that candidate. Which means that now, even though you're only eight years old and your parents are still alive, you are the Divine Light of Shanjia.

This game would take place over a larger timescale, and the influence of your regents in the first few years would be much more visible. Sure, you're the empress, but it's your parents who make most of the decisions - at least until you grow old enough to put your foot down, or someone else takes their place as regents. As a little kid, you're even more clueless than Elodie was about things at first, but you're also much better protected. No one can be guaranteed to get the throne by killing you, so you won't have nearly as many assassin problems. Your regents, on the other hand...

Shanjia's a big place, and there would be a lot more randomisation in the characters and events that came up, rather than a tightly-knit intermarried batch of nobles. However, while I have some ideas about the setting I don't really have any strong plot hooks for this yet.

Long Live The Queen: The Last of Her Name

Set in Nova approx five or six hundred years after LLTQ. Technology has made huge advances and the setting is now more like modern urban fantasy. Magic is everywhere, but 'Lumens' have fallen into legend... no one's quite sure if they ever existed. Which is too bad, since they might have been useful when eldritch monsters from the stars appeared and laid waste to the capital city. Your parents gave their lives to drive off the monstrous threat, which is how you ended up Queen at the age of 18. Even better, at your coronation the soothsayers prophesied that a further disaster would come to the realm, and that you would be the last Queen of your name...

This would have more city-sim elements in it, as you have to manage rebuilding your capital and governing your country while trying to figure out exactly what horrible doom is going to strike. The game-over scenarios wouldn't usually be just you dying, but things that are much, much worse. If the entire planet blows up, there will never be another Queen...

There are many possibilities of disaster and the likelihood of each to start with would probably be random to start with, then fluctuate as time went on based on your decisions, as with the rest of your management sim stuff. You'd also be recruiting friends, advisors, and potential lovers, who would all have relationships with each other as well as with you, and those could blow up in your face as well. There's a lot to try and keep track of. SimQueen is hard work.

Long Live The Queen: Galactic Princess Aura

You were never supposed to be Empress. Your father was in the prime of his life. You weren't even the heir - your brother was. You were a spoiled brat who cared more about her pets and going shopping than managing a space empire.

But then your brother abdicated (traitor!) and your father disappeared (... he'll be back, right?) and now... Long Live Empress Aura! (We're all doomed)

A Flash Gordon style space opera, with a leader who is really not cut out for this job, a mad scientist's laboratory brimming with secrets, a looming interplanetary war, and the true heir still out there somewhere... Probably the closest to the original LLTQ in terms of wicked comedy tone, but with the least connection to the setting.


And as usual, NO, I am not working on any of these, there is no promise that I will ever work on any of these, these are just some of the many, many concepts that float around in my head.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#2 by Tehbeefer - Jun 29 2014

Well, the first's setting sounds the most interesting (there are some interesting dynamics to consider), the third sounds like another batch of a very charming formula (I'm detecting some amusing character interactions already), and the second has the best hook. "Last of Her Name"? Just what does that imply, story-wise? There's a lot of ways that prophecy could come about, with drastically different results (does she end her reign with: the collapse of the country into anarchy/dust, by establishing a representative democracy, the forging a marital alliance with said eldritch abominations, lying in a pond handing out swords, ???)

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#3 by FantasyFan - Jun 29 2014

I vote for the space one! I love sci-fi!

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#4 by Franka - Jun 29 2014

I know these would all be good, but my personal interest in playing an 8-year-old is non-existant.

Now, eldritch monsters from the stars, that I could definitely get into! Gameplay wise, that also sounds the most interesting, if slightly ambitious. I would hope for this one, if any of them were ever to get made.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#5 by themightydoof - Jun 29 2014

All of these sound like they have the potential to be excellent.

I voted for Galactic Princess Aura because I enjoy your cruel sense of humour a lot. It's one my favourite aspects of your writing.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#6 by TheBetterStory - Jun 30 2014

These all sound like things I would be eager to play! Would The Last of her Name be more linear, with most of the focus going toward avoiding disasters until you reach a happy ending that only varies slightly? One of my favourite parts of LLtQ was the diversity ofthe endings that could still be considered successful.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#7 by hanako - Jun 30 2014

.... happy ending? Wait, people would expect there to be a happy ending?

Can't really say much about the endings on that plan without having to delve into spoilers, I'm afraid. There's... stuff.

Also a roguelike dungeon.

It may be slightly overcomplicated.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#8 by Tehbeefer - Jul 1 2014

Does death by chocolate count as a happy ending? Because I'm totally expecting that.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#9 by Magnificate - Jul 1 2014

Well... None of those sound as good as the original.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#10 by Wakuseino - Jul 4 2014

They all sound good to me, but for completely different reasons... Can't I just vote for all of them?

Okay. but seriously, #2 looks to be my favorite, simply because it mixes up so many genres. It should be a blast to play, and the roguelike randomly generated apocalypse sounds like it has some interesting potential.

The first one has some interesting potential too, due to the scale thing, and I'm hoping for the eventual evolution from clueless 8 year old to magical espionage master like I did with the first game.

The third one's last, but that... doesn't actually mean I dislike the idea. I'd actually look forward to that one quite a lot, too.

(Do we get to make an army of cute pet cosmic horrors to unleash upon our opponents in the end game? Can Aura be the one that causes the eldritch monsters from the stars to lay waste to The Last Of Her Name? This is important.)

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#11 by GSN22 - Jul 9 2014

Franka:

I know these would all be good, but my personal interest in playing an 8-year-old is non-existant.

Now, eldritch monsters from the stars, that I could definitely get into! Gameplay wise, that also sounds the most interesting, if slightly ambitious. I would hope for this one, if any of them were ever to get made.

I guess you haven't played Princess Maker 2 before.


As for the sequel to LLTQ, I'd kind of prefer Shanjia, I'd hate to have to imagine the game had a bad ending after all the effort i put in for the kingdom.

But, really, maybe a pay-for mod for CK2 with optional starts would be my choice pick. It could be updated constantly to create a larger world gradually over time.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#12 by Franka - Jul 10 2014

GSN22:

I guess you haven't played Princess Maker 2 before.

Sure I have. I have even tried wearing the creepy none-dress. As fun as the endless outcomes of PM2 can be, it's not exactly one of my favorite games; the early years are especially hard for me to get through. Now, it would clearly be better with, you know, an actual story going on, but still not something I'd get stoked for.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#13 by GSN22 - Jul 10 2014

Heh, no offense you sound newbish if you have trouble in the early years.

If you go can evade monsters and collect gold from dungeons, and use your skills wisely, you can win the first competition and get some loot to spend to speed things up.


A sequel in the main kingdom wouldn't be a bad idea, but I hate the idea of assuming such a horrible ending. I liked that CK2 briefly mentions the dragon scenario/etc. being resolved, which assumes the player got a good ending. Most players may experiment with good/bad endings but will prefer getting the best one they can, or at least a very good one for their efforts.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#14 by hanako - Jul 10 2014

The Last of Her Name scenario is not necessarily meant to imply a canon bad-end to the first game, if that's what you're saying. A lot can happen in several hundred years, and history can get a bit muddled about the details. Perfectly possible for Elodie to have a golden age where everybody loves Lumens and still end up here. (How it happened, of course, is something you'd have to play the game to find out!) There are magic-users, but they're not called Lumens.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#15 by KevinTMC - Jul 11 2014

I'm intrigued by "The Last of Her Name", but I'm afraid the multi-genre mashup would become an unwieldy mess of a project...I just see it spinning out of control so easily, and winding up as a not-as-good-as-the-original LLTQ2 with a rudimentary city sim and a roguelike dungeon crawl bolted on.

I kind of like the "same as before...but better, and more of it" vibe I'm getting from "Child-Empress of Shanjia", except I'm a little worried by the prospect of greater randomization.

The radical shift in setting made me back away from "Galactic Princess Aura" at first...but what little you provided by way of description made me smile, and it just plain sounds fun as a story. I'm going to vote for that one I think.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#16 by Franka - Jul 11 2014

GSN22:

Heh, no offense you sound newbish if you have trouble in the early years.

You don't understand. I'm not talking about the difficulty, I'm talking about not enjoying what's there.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#17 by GSN22 - Jul 15 2014

It takes a bit of effort but one can win the cooking/art contest at the 1st Tourny. That speeds up the rest of the game.

Me, I love that game.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#18 by Phaseus - Jul 15 2014

Will you be attempting to create all these games, or just the one that wins the most votes? Personally, I'd prefer to keep the story with our original race of people, because the story feels like it gets a continuation.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#19 by hanako - Jul 15 2014

Will you be attempting to create all these games, or just the one that wins the most votes?

Neither. These votes are never binding, and I never have anywhere near enough time to work on all the projects in my head. I may work on whichever one of these tickles my fancy sometime, or I may never do any of them at all.

The only 'effect' of polling is to give me some idea if there's an overwhelming fan favorite (which may just lead to me trying to figure out why that one is so far ahead, so I can apply some of that interest elsewhere), or if everyone hates a concept, or to reassure me that at least somebody is into my highly obscure concept.

In any case, another LLTQish game has to be quite far removed from the original setting, or too many skills would be boring repetitions of what was learned in the original. So if we were in Nova at all, it would be a drastically changed Nova, with Elodie's time far in the past and shrouded in legend. Following up more closely on Elodie's time period would be better suited to either a totally different kind of game or a different media... though obviously, I do not have the resources to generate Queen Elodie, The Webcomic.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#20 by Phaseus - Jul 16 2014

I think a drastically changed Nova would be for the better. When creating a sequel, one wants to branch out from the beginning, while still retaining some form of familiarity to avoid it being a different reality altogether. The idea that time can be used as a vehicle for this seems like a very interesting concept

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#21 by Jambatti - Jul 26 2014

Phaseus:

I think a drastically changed Nova would be for the better. When creating a sequel, one wants to branch out from the beginning, while still retaining some form of familiarity to avoid it being a different reality altogether. The idea that time can be used as a vehicle for this seems like a very interesting concept

I agree.

That is exactly why "The last of her name" looks like most promising concepct, out of these three.

1)Modern(Or, much better, "semi-modern" - featuring tech level of 1900-s - early 1920-s in our reality, and, more important, society development level of that time - The Age of Revolutions, The Dusk of Kings, Dawn of Democracy - this time has many names) world with magic is one of most interested settings overall, and it's (surprisingly!) still one of least developed in games. I suggest if Hanako ever make the next game - the best setting for it will be MW/Magic. IMHO.


2)As yo said, the time of 500-600 years is excellent - it will still have familiar countries, historical characters(e.g.Queen Elodie I "The Great" ^^), traditions, and so on. But the world will be completely different, as well as the challenges it provide for the upcoming Novan queen. Revolution, workers movements, tech<>magic conflict, core-rotten noble high society - effeminate, spoiled - so dissimilar with skilled, vigilant and valorous nobility of the past, of course the mass media, dirty primitive industrialisation vs farmers(or eco-activists vs corporations, if setting is modern), trench wars(if setting is semi-modern) and so on.
Space empires is cool and trendous thing, but, it is too far in time, and it will be hard to make the world familiar with the original one without far-fetching many things, and will look like or as unnatural, or as unfamiliar.

3)You are these world's Charles I of Austria/Nicholas II, but you are female and you are only 18 years old, so - will you accept your fate as "The last Queen"? Or you shall "embrace the new" and peacefully reform your country and even the global order? Or you will choose to be the Iron Lady of the Old World, and drew this world in blood of pesky rebels, impudent so-called "soothsayers" and enemy armies. Or will you restore the powers of ancient Lumens, who posessed real magic powers, not even match for the modern mages, who, exclude few single personalities, not capable to anything more that summon rain of show cheap flame tricks on the market day, and establish a new world superpower - The Novan Magocracy, country, ruled by mages and for mages? Or else?...
At least, you can always die trying! =)))

4)And, about the mages - they, along with all the world it the game times, suffer their own struggles and reformations, and they is a real "third power" here, and every step you take, you should count the magic.

This is how i see it, the future LLTQ game. Hanako, i hope it helps you to form and decide the final concept of the next game, we all will be waiting patiently^^

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#22 by Jayrassic Park - Aug 1 2014

I like all three - especially Child-Empress, since randomized LLTQ would be right up my alley - but Galactic Princess Aura would grant me the ability to be a Spaceball, so I have to put my vote for that.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#23 by RedSocialKnight - Aug 2 2014

I like the idea of a triangular rather than sequential trilogy: The first game is Nova, the second is Shanjia at roughly the same historical period, and the third is a much later advanced culture spanning both territories and deriving elements from both.

I do not have the resources to generate Queen Elodie, The Webcomic.

But you do though, you do! Think of Dinosaur Comics or The Angriest Dog in the World, in which the art is always the same and only the dialogue changes. I actually think this would work really well for The Inevitable Weekly Demise of Queen Elodie.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#24 by ark99k - Aug 10 2014

Would the Child Empress be like princess maker where you get years with the girl or more like lltq where you get months? I'm asking because when I play these games I'm very interested in romance, but with an 8 year old even political marriages (or betrothals?) are weird to me.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#25 by FruitySnooty - Aug 16 2014

I like the Empress idea.

Although, I wouldn't mind if these never manage to see the light of day. I'm the kind of person who gets easily disappointed with sequels lol, even though I unconsciously supported them.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#26 by DensetsuVI - Sep 5 2014

Would it, if it ever did come to be, whilst still set in the same universe at least make some references to my adorable little Elodie? After all the work I went through to guide her to proper leadership, she deserves future recognition!

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#27 by GSN22 - Sep 13 2014

If Hanako's thinking of a sequel at this point then the next patch for the game (a relatively minor one she said, I think) will prob. be the last one then.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#28 by Spandex Faffy - Sep 15 2014

My most important thing for a sequel of LLTQ would be gamefeel rather than setting, as long as it was kept as a (mostly) lighthearted romp through deadly political intrigue I would be happy, personally I think that space princess would be pretty damn cool as I believe it has the most potential to expand on the existing mechanics and experimenting with the setting is always fun.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#29 by Rebochan - Sep 26 2014

As a sequel to the backstabbing political drama of LLTQ, I'd lean towards Child-Empress of Shanjia for retaining that style of game within a more complex setting. I like the idea of the player essentially playing a character on training wheels who slowly gains power but also must be more reponsible lest dire consequences befall her. I've also got to admit that the setting of the series seems most intact in this proposal and I felt like LLTQ set up some very fascinating lore that I'd hate to just lose out on. It even has a pretty good opening hook given that in LLTQ's time, Shanjia was basically run by a power-hungry minstrel and *not* it's queen. Even if you can assume he won his war, the kingdom wouldn't exactly be in great shape in the aftermath because I got the impression nobody in *Shanjia* liked him either.

The city-sim is a close second, because something I did feel LLTQ lost was not showing enough of the kingdom you'd be ruling - though within the context of the story, it made sense that Elodie *wouldn't* spend much time outside the castle when the primary goal was learning how to rule and NOT DYING IN SIX MONTHS. It definitely sideswiped me on that first playthrough that I couldn't build a hospital or a printing press without grinding stats that otherwise didn't seem useful early game.

I loved LLTQ and I just gifted another copy to one of my few friends that still hadn't bought it (picked up a spare in the latest Humble Bundle) so I'll be very intrigued to see another entry in this series should you ever decide to do it.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#30 by SailorJulyxo - Oct 17 2014

I absolutely adore all of these, but I especially love Long Live The Queen: Galactic Princess Aura. I love when Princesses aren't cut out for the job! ;) I also love sci-fi. I'll buy any sequel that would be released!

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#31 by tn5421 - Nov 9 2014

I actually voted for the first one, but the second would would be interesting as well.

Re: Long Live The... Queens?

#32 by Fairyjade - Jan 7 2015

I really like the first one and the fact that it takes place years after the first game.